Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not disagree with anything the Deputy has said. In fact, I could not have put it better myself. In return for State investment in anything, there must be probity and public accountability. This committee has a very important role in that - both in holding the Department to account in terms of how we spend and allocate our money, and how sporting organisations allocate and use it on the ground. The answer is "Yes". There must be penalties.

We have seen it in the voluntary and charitable sector and I do not want to see it in the sporting sector. This is why I decided at the outset, and I know the Minister was very supportive of it, that whenever there is a voluntary code in any element of public life in Ireland, there is the temptation that can cause problems so one must remove them. This why one needs to move to mandatory codes with penalties. Without penalties, it is meaningless. The only penalty a Department can meaningfully enforce is financial. I agree with what the Deputy has said. In respect of reaching a situation where everybody is at that stage in 2019 and 2020, it will take a bit of time but we are on a trajectory. I do not disagree with the Deputy but when Oireachtas committees are charged with probing, they have an obligation to probe and certainly walking away from it is not a good idea.